


The morning run

by feyandstrange



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coffee, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 06:56:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feyandstrange/pseuds/feyandstrange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain America just wanted a cup of coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The morning run

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kyburg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyburg/gifts).



“Attacking us at dawn is the stupidest thing HYDRA’s come up with all week,” Iron Man said, “and what with those tentacled things they sent on Tuesday, that’s saying something.”

“Clear,” Hawkeye said, ducking inside a doorway.

“It’s a time-honored tactic for a reason,” Captain America was trying to say as they entered.

Widow marched up to the counter and rapped sharply on it.

“Oh, are we open?” the startled barista said, standing up from behind the counter.

“You are now.”

“Sorry! You’re right, it’s just 5 AM now. So welcome to Starbucks,” the barista said hastily, making a gesture to another aproned worker that probably meant _Put the mop down and give me a hand here_.  

“Cap, _nobody_ attacks at dawn anymore,” Tony said dismissively. “We have night vision, we have infared, there’s just no _reason_ to attack at dawn unless you’re in Hollywood. And even they’re all about the night vision scenes these days.”

“Venti mocha, double espresso,” Black Widow said to the barista.

“Name?”

“Natasha.”

“It isn’t _just_ about visibility, it’s about people’s alertness,” Rogers tried. “You said yourself nobody wants to fight before they’ve had breakfast and coffee. Why are we stopping here again?”

“You wanted a coffee before the meeting,” Tony said, putting his visor up. “Hey, barista, grande latte triple espresso, no whip, with a shot of hazelnut. Widow, what’s the boss drink? Besides human blood?”

 “Your name?” asked the scribbling barista.

Tony Stark raised an eyebrow high enough for the armor’s helmet to obscure it. “Really?”

“Sorry! Sorry, sir,” she said, scribbling “IRON MAN” on a cup.

“I _meant_ we could just get a cup of coffee on the Helicarrier –“

“Cap, I’m not drinking Helicarrier coffee if I can help it,” Stark dismissed.

“You couldn’t anyway, the carrier is still on essential power only after the attack,” Black Widow replied.

 “See? You want coffee, we get it from Starbucks like modern Americans do. This is all on me, by the way,” Stark added to the barista. “And there’s some cops outside doing cleanup, put them on my tab too.”

“Yes, sir.”

“One grande latte, extra shot, that’s for Nick,” Black Widow said, glancing back at the doors.

“I just wanted a cup of coffee,” Steve Rogers sighed, looking perplexed by the menu. “It smells good in here, but – is that Italian?”

“Weren’t you in Italy in the war?” Stark said. 

“I was mostly further north, HYDRA didn’t get that far south,” Rogers said absently.

“Well, tell me what you want in your coffee. You like it flavored or what? Did they have flavored coffee in the Dark Ages? Widow, what does Legolas drink? And why isn’t he ordering his own?”

“He’s bringing the plane. Decaf Venti with whipped cream and caramel for – Legolas,” she said with a stern look at Stark.

“Uh, right,” the barista said.

“Decaf? Hawkeye drinks decaf?” Stark protested.

“He doesn’t want his hands to shake from withdrawal,” Widow replied calmly.

“Probably for the best. He’s a little too wired most of the time anyway. What do you take, Steve? Hazelnut? Mocha? Oh, we should get Banner something,” Stark remembered. “He has to be at this meeting too.”

“One venti chai with soy milk,” Widow said, “for Steve.”

“Banner drinks that chai stuff – oh, you got it,” Tony Stark said. “Carry on.”

“Chai? I don’t think I want chai,” Steve Rogers protested. “I don’t even know what that is.”

 “Of course you know what everybody drinks, don’t you? Spy training and all that,” Stark said to Natasha. “Hey, add one of those takeout boxes of coffee to the list, we’ll be nice to the grunts,” Stark added to the barista.

“The other Steve,” Black Widow said to Steve Rogers.

“Right. Could you order me a large black coffee with sugar, please? I don’t know enough Italian,” Steve Rogers said dryly.

“Grande Americano for Rogers,” Widow said. “All to go. And two takeout boxes, and lots of sweetener packets.”

“Will do. Might be a minute on the big boxes,” the barista said. “Hey, Nyeed, start filling two takeout boxes for me.”

“And the cops, don’t forget the cops,” Stark added. “I hope that one guy’s gonna be okay.”

“Just a dislocated shoulder,” Black Widow said dismissively. “We got there in time.”

“They put flavors in coffee,” Steve Rogers said to no one in particular.

“I’m gonna get you an iced pumpkin spice latte and see what you think,” Tony Stark grinned.

“Is there any room left for coffee in all that?” Captain America said dubiously. “If you ask me, pumpkin coffee sounds like a HYDRA plot.”

The barista muffled a snicker.

“That would explain a lot! Is that HYDRA green on your aprons? And tentacles!” Tony Stark joked, pointing at the Starbucks logo on the barista’s chest. “Remind me to look into these guys’ financing. If HYDRA’s got us all hooked on macchiatos – “

“Then they wouldn’t need to attack the UN building at dawn, would they?” Black Widow said with a small smile.

“It’s a very complicated plot. I wouldn’t expect you to understand it,” Tony Stark replied. “I don’t understand it, and I’m a genius. Hand me the ATM thing so I can pay for all this.”

“Oh, have you solved the problem of not having your wallet on you?” Natasha asked innocently.

“Just because you and Hawkeye had to pay for the shawarmas does not mean you get to make fun of me all the time,” Tony Stark said, sticking part of his armored wrist into the ATM card slot. “At least not when I’m buying you coffee.” The card reader beeped. “There you go. Write yourself a twenty per cent tip, and don’t forget the cops outside,” Stark said, handing the ATM swipe box back to the barista.

“Yes, sir, and thanks.”

“Although I suppose we coulda billed SHIELD and called this a field expense,” Stark said. “Ah well, I write it all off anyway.”

“The plane’s here,” Captain America observed.

Black Widow handed one of the takeout trays full of coffee cups to him. “Here. Stark, put that down and carry the big containers.”

Stark was slurping out of his coffee; he hastily stuck it back into the tray she held and picked up the two large travel containers. “If we gotta have a meeting at this hour, I’m not having it with people who haven’t had their coffee.”

“Has the Helicarrier gotten non-essential power back yet?” Captain America asked.

“No,” Black Widow said dourly.

“They say they’re working on it. Remind me to write a memo to somebody about why the coffee machines should be on _essential_ power,” Tony Stark said tinnily as his faceplate went back on.

“I’m starting to think making coffee over a fire wasn’t the worst idea,” Captain America muttered, eyeing the cardboard containers warily.

Black Widow kicked the door wide open. Several policemen and a small crowd had gathered.

“Hey, Sarge, your coffee’s on us,” Tony Stark said. “Thanks for the help.”

“Any time, Iron Man!”

Some of the crowd were clapping and cheering, others busily taking cellphone photos. Black Widow’s glare broke a path to the nearby shuttle, which revved its engines in a warning to the crowd.

“Sun’s almost up,” Steve Rogers observed, looking around. “Should get a nice view on the way back.”

“Only if you tell Hawkeye to take the scenic route,” Stark replied. “Hey, Hawkeye, take the scenic route. If I have to be up at dawn I can at least get to see the skyline.”

“Bring me my coffee and it’s a deal,” the interior speakers of the plane replied.

“What time is the meeting?” Natasha asked, sipping her drink.

“Ah, they can’t start without us anyway,” Tony Stark responded. “We’re in.”

The ramp retracted, the door slammed. Widow went forward with the tray of coffee, and the shuttle rose upward. A moment later Tony had taken the tray of cups away from Rogers, propped his armored self in a chair, popped his faceplate, and began slurping out of the cup marked IRON MAN.

Captain America sat where he could see the Statue of Liberty out the window, gilded gold and risy pink by the sunrise. Much of the skyline had changed since his day, but from up here, the big changes seemed farther away; Liberty and the Empire State building still stood tall in the glassy skyline of Manhattan. Out the other window, if he squinted, he could sort of see Brooklyn through the sunshine.

“Not so bad, is it,” Natasha said, handing him a cup of coffee, with three sugar packets on top.

“Better with coffee,” Rogers said automatically. “Thanks.”

Tony was talking to himself, or the phone, or Jarvis, or the helicarrier; it was hard to tell. “How long til we’re back?” Rogers asked, carefully sugaring his coffee.

Natasha’s eyes crinkled in a very small smile. “Hawkeye told the carrier that we have to go the long way because of air traffic. We’ve got time to drink our coffee.”

Across the aisle, still absorbed in a conversation, Tony Stark had found a pen and was drawing a crude face with an eye patch on Nick Fury’s cup.

Steve Rogers sighed and stretched his legs out, then took a sip of his coffee. “Mmm. Not such a bad start to the day, after all.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by yet another fit of insomnia and having read several of kyburg's Marvelverse stories recently; she's got a great voice for those characters, especially Rogers. This story fits timeline-wise right after the Avengers movie.


End file.
